Pakistan’s frail judicial structure

Getting weaker still

Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph, Haile Selassie aptly described the consequences of an unjustly governed society.

Likewise, the construct of Pakistan’s judiciary reflects a gruesome tale of mismanagement, inefficiency and corruption, perpetuating the very menace a legal system is made to counter; injustice. The civil and session courts of the country that deal with more than 90 percent of the cases, still operate under the medieval age regulations formulated by the British which, though cosmetically edited after Independence, the CRPC (Criminal Procedure Code) and CPC (Civil Procedure Code) to name a few, still remain in their original form.Not only are these archaic provisions unfit to justly deal with the dynamically changing problems that people face everyday in the 21^st century but also facilitate delays in dispensing justice.

The movement for restoration of judiciary, again, focused only on the superior judiciary which was already sufficiently protected both constitutionally and financially, and the lower courts were again ignored in the reformatory process

The movement for restoration of judiciary, again, focused only on the superior judiciary which was already sufficiently protected both constitutionally and financially, and the lower courts were again ignored in the reformatory process, if at all there was any that the judiciary underwent in 2009. The judges of the lower courts are subjected to an antediluvian service structure where even the most outperforming of civil judges cannot be promoted for more than a dozen years because a law drafted in the late 1700s imposes a time limit in doing so. This has also repelled zealous foreign educated Pakistanis from opting for the once imperial profession of the judiciary and so the cream of Pakistani legal academia doesn’t enter this profession, unlike universal practice. The performance of the subordinate judiciary is also hampered due to the limited presence of judicial officers all over the country; the United Kingdom with a population of only 65 million has more than 30,000 Magistrates alone whereas Pakistan with a population three times more has less than 1/10^th that number, approximately 2700! Thus the inability of judges to decide on matters swiftly, and of course fairly, becomes a vicious cycle. The very few number of judges that are inducted arenot even adequately equipped with the requisite skills of a judge, with very little appraisal thereafter. The superior courts themselves have created glass ceilings for these judges, as only in very exceptional cases are civil judges elevated into superior courts.

Inapt policy making and corruption in the judiciary have robbed it of its prestige. The review by the Supreme Court published in 2011 noted that there was an overall 25 percent decrease in the disposal of cases in one year in Pakistan by all courts of the country.

The government, judiciary and the people all are to blame for the current state of affairs of this institution. The government, as in all other matters, has exhibited sheer incompetence and gross neglect; the superior judiciary too has turned a blind eye to the dilapidated structure of the subordinate courts. The people as well have accepted the failures of the two. Bribery in the courts is now asked as of right and people pay them more willingly than they pay for food. It has been institutionalised and the exchange of favour for money by an officer of the court is conspicuously carried out at the premises under the label of money for ‘mithaye’ (sweet) or ‘chai’ (tea). The most legitimate of things are only dealt with justly in courts, only if ‘wheels’ are added to them and the people too receive that as a blessing, since in majority of cases law suits are inherited by generation after generation and lead to blood feuds, creation of land mafias and subjugation of the less powerful.

For the country to elevate itself onto the path of social progression, emphasis must be given to ensure speedy disposal of justice at the common man’s utmost convenience

For the country to elevate itself onto the path of social progression, emphasis must be given to ensure speedy disposal of justice at the common man’s utmost convenience. The service structure needs to be brought at par with the modern world with greater protection to district courts and its judges. The judges that are inducted then must be given state of the art training to ensure fair disposal of cases along with constant appraisal as recently a judge of the civil court mentioned to me that an American civil judge could draft a better judgment than a judge of Pakistan’s Apex Court!

Aristotle famously said that poverty is the parent of revolution and crime, but in Pakistan’s case poverty may well have found its spouse; injustice.